Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

ON THE LECTERN . Lecterns , or reading desks , came into use at an early date ; there is frequent mention of them in early writings , and representations of them in ancient vignettes . They were placed in the centre of choirs in large ecclesiastical buildings as early as the 7 th century , and the choristers were arranged in rows on the right and left of them . They are of various forms , but the eagle is introduced in a very large number . With outspread wings ,

and mounted on a stem at a convenient height for a reader , this grand bird , at an early date , was made to serve the purpose of supporting the framework , on which the large and heavy volumes used for the service were placed . There was , probably , some reference in the thoughts of those who first used them to the fact that the eagle soared to the most elevated regions , and , therefore , in a fanciful way , would be likely to carry the

words of the readers or choristers nearer to heaven than they might otherwise ascend . In some instances the inclined framework on the back of the bird was made to accommodate two books , one above the other , and furnished with movable brackets lo light the reader . Frequently the eagle is represented standing on an orb , and sometimes on a dragon , and the base of the stem on which it is placed is often raised on lions . A more simple

form , without the introduction of the eagle , consists of an inclined bookboard , raised to a convenient height on a stem . Next to this are examples that have two slanting book-boards , which meet at their upper edges , like a roof ; and there are others with clever groupings of four desks , or bookboards . These are generally made of oak or some other hard wood . They nearly all turn on pivots , and some of them are enriched with much carving .

Sometimes the eagle is of wood , and the framework of iron . In the handsomest examples base , stem , bird , and book-board are of polished brass . Besides the lecterns used in the services there may still be seen others in old churches on which volumes of homilies and commentaries are chained . Old inventories mention many more . An inventory of the church goods of All Saints' Church , Hereford , for instance , 'dated 1619 , tells us of "The

paraphrase of Erasmus chayned to a deske , " and "Jewell ' s workes chayned to a deske . " A little later on , in the churchwardens' books belonging to the same church , there is mention of " one wainscott deske in the chancell , " which was , doubtless , a lectern . In the following century ( 1766 ) there is another side-light upon the same subject , in another entry " two candlesticks for the reading desk . " There are still books chained to a desk in

Horncastle Church , and there is one , a battered volume of homilies , with a chestnut-hued cover , in Alnwick Church . In the vestry of All Saints , Hereford , there is a library in chains , consisting of 286 volumes , all fastened to the shelves on which they are placed . In Grantham Church , too , there is a library in chains ; and about 40 volumes are chained in Turton Church , Lancashire . Kettering Church has two books chained by the covers to a

long reading-desk . Over and above this plan of chaining their books , with iron chains , our predecessors had a contrivance for keeping them open , that we have also discarded , or have retained only in the modified form of bookmarks . The narrow strip of silk or braid that we place between the pages of a book they fastened to the topmost edge of the lectern , and made the ends heavy with leaden weights . When they wished to keep a book open ,

they brought two of these strips down from the ridge of the lectern , one over each page , which prevented all motion of the leaves . When not in use they were allowed to hang down . There are many vignettes in ancient MS . Bibles , and other writings , showing lecterns with these contrivances attached to them , and the leaden weights , of a disc-like form , depending from them . The well-known French antiquary , M . Vio ' e : Ze-Duc , gives

five examples of them from ancient writings , preserved in French libraries , in his Dictionaire Raisonnc du Mobilicr Francais , de TEpagnc Castorinueene a la Renaissance . One of them shows these ancient book-marks attached to the lower side of a desk , on which a scribe is writing , and they are passed up over the book pr writing and over the top edge of the lectern , allowed to depend from its upper side , instead of the lower one , as in other examples ;

and there is one instance given , in which the weights are fastened to the side , in which case they would be merely lifted and placed upon any sheet that was required to be kept in position . Both Oxford and Cambridge have interesting specimens of ancient brass eagles in their college chapels . The county of Norfolk , too , is rich in them ; Southampton has two , one of which is very fine , and supported on four lions ; Bristol has two , one in St . Mary

Redcliffe , and the other in St . Mary-le-Port ; Southwell Minster hasagrand example , which is said to have belonged to Newstead Abbey ; and there are others to be met with here and there . There is an example of a wooden eagle in Winchester Cathedral ; one in All Saints' Church , Monksilver , Somersetshire ; and another in Exeter , in St . Thomas ' s Church . There are a few examples of ancient brass lecterns without eagles . An oaken lectern , with four desks , in St . Martin ' s Church , Deptling , Kent , is very richly

carved . There is an interesting brass eagle in Long Sutton Church , Lincolnshire . It stands only two inches short of six feet in height , and its base rests on three lions . There are bold mouldings at intervals up its stem , which is surmounted by a ball , or orb , rather less than a foot in diameter j and on this ball stands the bird , with beak slightly open , and wings outspread , sturdy , prim , and square , though made to revolve upon the stem just below its standing place .

MESSRS . THOS . AGNEW AND SONS , 3911 , OLD BOND-STREET , W . This year is the seventh annual exhibition on behalf of the Artists ' General Benevolent Institution . Here we have fine examples of the work of J . Hoppner , R . A .: 2 . Mary Stuart Wortley , granddaughter of the Earl of Bute , K . G ., Prime Minister to George II . ; another , 14 , by the same artist , the Hon . Miss Emma Crewe , daughter of John Lord Crewe ; also

of Sir Henry Raeburn , R . A .: 4 , Miss Wilhelmina Ross of Shandwick ; also 20 , by the same artist , Alicia Lady Stcuart of Coltness , daughter of Wm . Blacker of Carrick-Blacker , co . Armagh ; notice here the artistic skill by which all the details are made subservient to the main figure . The great landscape and portrait painter T . Gainsborough , R . A .: 5 , Sir

William Blackstone , the famed judge , author of well-known Commentaries ; O i A Pastoral Landscape , in the artist ' s well-known style ; 7 , the great picture , the Duchess of Devonshire , stolen from Agnew's Galleries 1876 , recovered 1901 ; fi , The Lock , George Romney , Mrs . Jordan , the famed actress ; Sir J . Reynolds , P . R . A . : 16 , the Duchess of Marlborough and Child . No one should miss seeing these famed examples of English art .

Science, Art, And The Drama.

THE HOLLAND FINE ART GALLERIES , 14 , GRAI ' TON-STREET , BOND-STREET , W . Here we have a collection of choice oil and water colour paintings by artists of the Dutch school . Our attention was especially drawn to 6 , The Pond Voorschoten , by W . Roelofs ; 9 , " The Village Church , " by P . J . C . Gabriel ; 15 , " The Mill , " by the same artist ; 17 , Beukenlaan , the lights and shadows are good ; 28 , Near the Hague ; 35 , Autumn , a masterly work ; 415 , Renkum , all the above are by H . de Bock ; this artist combines

a broadness of style with delicate conscientious details . Another artist who has some effective pieces is J . Bosboon : 24 , Alkmaar Church ; 32 , . Church—interior ; 12 , Tilburgh Cathedral . An artist who has a marked style of his own is J . Maris : 13 , The Cornfield ; 23 , Dordrecht ; Mura , whose works are 46 , " On the Sands , " " Amsterdam ; " J . Neuhuys 39 , " In the Woods , " very effective . There are many other pictures of great merit worthy of notice but we cannot particularise them . We will merely add that the exhibition shows that the modern Dutch school is full of vitality .

THE DOWDESWELL GALLERIES . 160 , NEW BOND-STREET , W . There is an exhibition at the above galleries of original drawings by the late L . J . Wood , R . I . They are interesting from the fact that the writer knows intimately many of the places depicted , and can vouch for the truthfulness with which they are painted , Some represent English scenes , others places abroad , but they all show able artistic conception . We notice a few :

6 , Chapel at Haddon Hall ; 8 , Boppard on the Rhine ; 11 , Bacharach on the Rhine—the quaint old houses in these two are admirably drawn ; 12 , All Saints ' , Hastings ; 14 , At Shere , Surrey—clever tree work ; 16 , The Old Abbey Gate , Kenilworth ; 18 , Queen Elizabeth ' s Dressing-room , Kenilworth Castle—notice the delicate details of the ruined window ; 19 , Cock Mill , Whitby—quiet in tone , but effective ; 24 , At Gomshall , Surrey ; 33 , Lincoln Cathedral ; 34 , At Rouen , Normandy ; 36 , 37 , fine tree work in each ; 40 , Dinant on the Mense , Belgium . The exhibition will repay a visit .

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE . "THE LAST OF THE DANDIES . " This play , as a reminiscence of olden times , is most interesting . The dress , manners , and customs of our grandfathers are produced with extraordinary fidelity . Infinite pains have been bestowed , that every thing should be strictly correct . Undisputed authorities have been consulted , even on the minutest particulars . The result has bsenthat the tout ensemble

is truthful and impressive . We may be amused at and , perhaps , ridicule the outre costumes we see , both of the men and women , but we should remember that the dictates of fashion have been , and ever will be , despotic , and the dress and manners of this our present age , may , to our descendants , 50 years hence , appear equally absurd . As a literary work , " The Last of the Dandies" cannot

hold a high place—the story is very slight—the author , Mr . Clyde Fitch , seems to have devoted himself chiefly to the development of the principal character , Count d'Orsay , so well and efficiently interpreted by Mr . Tree . Were it not for his consummate skill there would be nothing in the character . The author has merely afforded the bare skeleton , which the artist has clothed and vivified . We would especially commend the tact and judgment

evinced in the final scene , when the coming of the " dread guest" is announced ; the acting is not exaggerated , but well restrained , and its dignity maintained ; the situation was one that required the most careful discrimination ; the author deserves great praise for his original conception . With regard to the other characters , the ladies have not much opportunity afforded them of distinguishing themselves . Miss Kate Yorke , as Lady

Summershire , is affectionate and tender . Miss Lily Hanbury , though not our idea of Lady Blessington , does the best she can with her part . Of the male characters , they are so shadowy that they afford no opportunities . The valets , Messrs . Courtice Pounds and Robb Harwood , are certainly clever . Winkles , the page boy , Master E . Ruthven , evinces talent , and promises well for the future . Mr . Maurice , as Lord Ascot , is good , as also Mr . H . B . Warner as Lord Ardale . The piece is admirably staged .

LYCEUM THEATRE . SHERLOCK HOLMES . To those who have in past years read the thrilling adventures of Sherlock Holmes in the " Strand Magazine , " the episode of Miss Faulkner now represented at the Lyceum Theatre must have awakened pleasurable recollections . Dr . A . Conan Doyle , the author of the dramatic version of his own story , has been assisted by the practical stage experience of Mr . Wm .

Gillette , the result being a well-constructed play , which , though of a highly sensational character , is not without the range of probability . The action ol the piece is so rapid and complicated , that it requires great attention to follow it . The interest is well sustained during the first three acts , but rather falls off in the fourth act . We think the love episode , which brings down the final curtain , is uncalled for . It would have been better for tne play

were it expunged altogether . As might be expected , the interest centres round the detective , Sherlock Holmes , which is undertaken b y Mr . Wm . ' Gillette , who finds in it a part admirably suited to him . We would here reiterate the caution to visitors which the manag'inent has advertised that the opening scene of the play should not be missed—it is absolutel y necessary for the proper understanding of what follows : To decribe the plot of the

piece beforehand would detract from the enjoyment of those who see itwe will confine ourselves to a few general remarks on the manner in which the chief parts are enacted . The sang froid which Mr . Gillette exhibits is most appropriate ; the deductions he draws from trivial incidents are for the most part very clever , although we cannot agree with all of them . The great scene—the escape of the detective—is ingeniousl y and cleverly

managed . Mr . Abingdon gives us a line piece of character as Professor Moriarty . Jas . Larrabee and Sidney Prince find good exponents in M sssrs . Ralph Delmore and Fuller Mellish . Doctor Watson is takei with much intelligence by Percy Lyndal . Miss Maude Feal / renders Alice Faulkner interesting . Miss Charlotte Granville fully emphasises the wickedness of Madge Larrabee . In fine , the caste is good all round . One word in parting , see Sherlock Holmes .